Pear Trees and Me
by Misora-7
Summary: On the second day of their school trip, Minato goes around Kyoto to take pictures for the Photography Club, only to see a familiar, reminiscing girl standing by a beautiful, brown pear tree. AU One-shot


Persona 3: Pear Trees and Me

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 **A/N: Hey guys! I recently got into the Persona series, and suddenly got some sort of inspiration to make this AU one-shot for my favourite Persona 3 couple, Minato x Yukari, or MinaYuka in short. Surprisingly, despite the hate Yukari gets in the fandom, I've come to like her and her Social Link. Well, enough of my babbling, here it is, my horrible attempt in writing a Minato x Yukari fanfic.**

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 _Kyoto - 11/18 - Wednesday - Daytime_

It was a beautiful day in the outskirts of Kyoto. The sun's rays shine throughout the region, reflecting the golden brown colour of the pear trees. Though, the gloomy atmosphere of some of the students didn't exactly match the beautiful day. Initially, the students would be having their 4-day field trip overseas, but the constant yapping of an annoyingly persistent teacher made the trip local, which is in Kyoto. Off-putting as it is, there are least a few students who appreciate the cultural heritages Kyoto has to offer, nevertheless.

However, for this peculiar blue-haired boy, he just wants to get his work done.

"Minato-kun, can I assign you to take pictures of Kyoto during the sightseeing trip? We'll be needing photos of the trip for our next club activity," says a kind-hearted man wearing glasses.

"I don't mind," Minato, the blue-haired boy, says. "I'll be heading off now, Keisuke-san."

"Thanks a lot, Minato-kun, I knew I could count on you."

Even though the trip was nothing more but 4 days of rest for him, he is now obligated to take pictures due to the fact that he's a member of the Photography Club. Although he does not exactly hate photography, it is nothing more but a way to kill some time during Wednesdays or Thursdays. He sighs, as he doesn't have much of a choice, anyway.

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 _Kyoto - 11/18 - Wednesday - Afternoon_

On his way back from taking photos of the sights in Kyoto, he comes across a familiar face. He sees the person staring at one of the pear trees with somewhat of a melancholic look, as if reminiscing. Although he would normally go straight back, he finds himself approaching her.

"Yukari?"

"Oh, it's you, Minato..."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just enjoying the view, I guess..."

"Really now?"

Yukari sighs, knowing well that Minato was keen in sensing people hiding something.

"I guess there's nothing that you can't figure out, huh Minato?"

"..."

She chuckles slightly and says, "Hey, have I ever told you that I used to live here around here in Kyoto?"

He shakes his head, so she continues on with her story. "Before my dad died, my parents and I used to stroll around this park. I'd admire the flowers and trees around me. And my mom... would put flowers around the house. But when my dad died... well, y'know the story... Then, after that, I'd go to the Kamogawa riverbank near the Sanjo Bridge just to get away from the things happening with my mom. And, before I knew it, I stopped going to this park... I probably didn't want to be constantly reminded of the good memories I had with my dad..."

"...Is that really so?"

"What do you mean...?"

"From what I've seen, you... you believed in your dad. That belief helped you remain strong despite your problems with your mom."

"How can you say for certain?"

"Well, you probably wouldn't be fighting for SEES if you didn't hold that kind of belief for your dad."

"You seem to know me a lot better than what I know about myself... But you're right... My belief for my dad and my memories of him were all I had..."

"Not completely..."

"Huh?"

"You probably still hold onto the memories with your mom. I mean..." he says as he crouches down to pick up something. "You like pink gerberas, right?"

"..."

"...You stopped going to this park not because you waned to forget about your memories with your dad. You just didn't want to remember how your mom was before the incident. Flowers... they would only make you remember about your mom."

"..."

She... was amazed from what she just heard. Who knew that in her entire life, there was actually someone who could understand her?

"Ahaha... You were somehow on the spot. I stopped liking flowers for some time, but I recently wanted to put some flowers in my room. And... I feel like I can change, and it's all thanks to you. Thank you, Minato," she says, as a warm smile suddenly forms, which somehow makes Minato feel glad.

In return, he smiles back, and says, "I'm glad you've cheered up now."

"Yeah... Y'know, I think I can finally muster up the courage to talk to Kirijo-senpai. We all used to go along to get along. We never really seemed like we trusted each other at all. Before, I was a bit selfish... I thought that Kirijo-senpai was hiding a lot of things from us just for her own ends, but... ever since her dad died, I thought about it. I never really understood Kirijo-senpai all that well. That's why I want to take it a step further. We aren't just gathered solely to erase the Dark Hour. I want to believe that we're also fighting for ourselves. Sure, it'll take time for me to fully understand Kirijo-senpai, but I wion't really understand her until I talk to her."

He smiles again, and says, "Go for it."

"Thanks, Minato... I feel like I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you. You taught me that there are a lot of things a person wouldn't understand unless you talk about it."

"Even if that were the case, it takes courage to take a step forward to do so."

Yukari nods with a smile. "Right. Well then, I'll be going now. See ya."

As Yukari was about to leave, Minato, suddenly remembering something, says, "Oh, and Yukari..."

"Yeah?"

"Your name, Yukari? It means 'beautiful pear tree', by the way! Let's go to Kyoto again someday and see some more pear trees!"

Surprised but delighted at the thought, she answers, "Yeah!"

"And don't ever forget that!"

She chuckles at the thought, and finally proceeds to leave.

Before making his leave as well, he looks up at the sky, wishing that everything would be good in Yukari's end.

 _Good luck, Yukari._

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Ah, this is so darn bad. Haha, oh well. Very, very painful criticism is highly welcome. :D

Rouiss - My bad, I was looking at the megamitensei wikia and saw that "Yukari" could mean "beautiful pear tree". I probably should have done a bit more research on this. I don't study Japanese, sadly. I'll probably just delete that part to avoid confusion. Well, thanks for the review, I appreciate it! I'll try adding more depth and such, though I have no assurance as I am really, really not good in expressing my thoughts into words. If you don't mind, could you list down the grammatical errors I made through PM? I would greatly appreciate it as a mean to improve my grammar. Thanks again!


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